1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed generally to a splice tape to splice together two ends of a web and more specifically to a splice tape that is imprintable and splices together two ends of imprintable webs.
2. Discussion of the Background
Various kinds of coated papers are known for use in preparing printed products. That is, a basic paper base is coated with a composition that is affected by heat, pressure or other stimuli to form writing or codes on the paper. This can be a carbonless system which is written on with a ballpoint pen or a bar code system where the bars are printed thermally, or other similar systems.
When using a printer for printing labels and other products, it is common to use a roll of coated paper for the paper supply. One end is inserted into a printer, which operates repeatedly to print the desired pattern on the web. A print head operates on the coated paper to cause the markings to appear. For example, the print head may contain a series of heat producing elements in a row or array which are selectively actuated to print a selected bar code or other indicia. Such a printer may be flat, with the coated paper being moved over its surface. Some systems could also use a rotary printer.
The roll of coated paper or web that is used in the printing process is usually manufactured elsewhere and placed on rolls. A common problem is that defects may occur in the web. If the defect is left in place, the printed product will be defective and have to be thrown away. The defect can be removed, but the two ends must be spliced together, or the roll will be shortened. Likewise, if the web is shorter than a full roll, it must be spliced to another piece or be thrown away.
Unfortunately, the presence of the splice can cause problems of its own. If the splice does not hold when the web is pulled through the printer, the web may break and become entangled in the printer. Since the splice may be made of different material than the web or may be uncoated, the printing on the splice may appear different than on the rest of the web and may need to be thrown away.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,279,209 to Masuda shows one prior art attempt to solve these problems. Thermally imprintable labels 12 include a face layer 14, adhesive 22 and liner 20 to form a web. A splice is formed between two webs by adhering a third imprintable paper with adhesive over the gap between the first and second webs. An additional splice tape is also applied to the backside of the gap. Thus, the splice includes two splice tape layers 52 and 60, plus adhesive and the liner 20 in addition to the label itself. However, this arrangement almost doubles the thickness of the original web, making a lump or lopsided portion which may cause it to get caught in the printer or to not move smoothly. In addition, even if the third paper is imprintable, the thickness of the splice causes the printing roller to lift off the web, leaving an unprinted area, which may ruin the product in that area.